Chapter 42: Master Cloud Cliff
Lin Huai kept one hand tucked behind her back, an immobilization talisman ready between her fingers. A faint, mocking smile touched her lips. “Too bad for you… this time, the coffin has already reached Level 4.”
“Oh, right, I forgot to mention,” she added smoothly. “In this life, my username is Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice!”
As expected, both pieces of news hit Chen Feng like a physical blow. Events were drifting completely off the course he remembered. Realizing that even with the reset, things had spiraled far beyond his control, his eyes stretched wide in utter disbelief. “How is that possible?! How could you possibly be the number one player on the whole server?!”
In his previous life, even after pouring endless resources into raising the coffin to Level 8, he had never once managed to break into the server-wide top ten.
How had Lin Huai leveled the coffin to Level 4 so early in the game? How had she seized the server-wide championship all on her own?
Lin Huai had no intention of explaining. What she had revealed were basic facts anyone could discover with a quick search. The moment her words landed, her hand snapped forward, slapping the yellow immobilization talisman straight onto his chest while he stood frozen in shock.
Taking advantage of the split second he was paralyzed, her war scythe tore through the air. The curved blade whipped horizontally across his bare throat with terrifying speed. Blood erupted like a broken fire hydrant, spraying into the air before soaking into the hard earth.
Chen Feng’s severed head tumbled across the ground, his eyes wide and frozen in horror and disbelief.
Lin Huai stood in place, her eyes stinging with hot, red veins. Her knuckles turned bone-white around the shaft of her scythe.
Taking the life of her sworn enemy with her own hands was truly exhilarating!
Before she could take another breath, the arena’s environment dissolved. The rocky hills and sky melted away, replaced once more by the glowing blue light walls. The uneven ground shifted back into a smooth, featureless floor.
Across from her, Chen Feng’s head had been restored to his shoulders.
She knew the rules of the arena; he wouldn’t permanently die here. Even so, Lin Huai felt a wave of deep satisfaction. Chen Feng was collapsed on his knees, clutching his throat with both hands, gasping for air in pure agony.
The phantom pain and the suffocating memory of his throat being cut still lingered in his nerves.
Watching him kneel before her, shaking, humiliated, and broken, was almost sweeter than looking at a cold corpse.
The synthesized arena voice chimed through the chamber:
[Congratulations to player Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice on securing her first victory in the trial grounds! Nine matches remaining. Keep up the good work!]
As the announcement faded, the glowing barriers dissolved. Both combatants were instantly teleported back to the open courtyard beneath the colossal peach tree.
It took Chen Feng a long time to steady his breathing and drag himself to his feet. When he looked at Lin Huai now, his eyes held unmistakable dread. He roared, his voice trembling with lingering panic, “You were actually trying to kill me! Lin Huai, we used to be husband and wife!”
He shouldn’t have said those words. The moment the phrase “husband and wife” left his mouth, Lin Huai’s cool satisfaction ignited into white-hot rage once again.
Her war scythe had already returned to her inventory. Without hesitating, she drew the greatsword Old Hei had given her and channeled her spiritual energy into the hilt.
If she couldn’t end his life inside the dueling chamber, she would butcher him right out here beneath the tree!
The miniature sword expanded, swelling into a massive golden blade that hovered menacingly over Chen Feng’s head. Lin Huai’s voice turned ice-cold: “Chen Feng, the day we were engaged, Old Lin died! The banquet was called off before it even began. We were never husband and wife!”
“Old Lin gave his life trying to keep me away from the edge of the pit, yet I was foolish enough to fall for your lies and let you push me into hell. You murdered me just to steal my family’s treasure! Any bond between us died back then!”
“Now, there is only room for one of us to live. We are mortal enemies!”
With a vicious command of her spiritual power, she sent the giant blade hurtling downward, dead set on splitting him in two.
Clang!
Out of nowhere, a slender sword glowing with blue light flashed across the plaza. The edge caught the golden greatsword mid-fall, deflecting its heavy trajectory by several inches.
The greatsword crashed into the stone flags right beside Chen Feng’s head, slicing a lock of his hair before plunging deep into the pavers. It shrank back to palm-size and flew smoothly into Lin Huai’s hand.
Having brushed against death twice in a matter of minutes, Chen Feng collapsed backward onto the ground, his legs shaking too violently to keep him upright.
The blue flying sword spun gracefully through the air, returning to the hand of its master. Lin Huai followed the weapon’s path with a sharp gaze. Striding toward them was the very same Daoist she had spoken with earlier: Master Cloud Cliff.
Dressed in azure Daoist robes, he held the glowing blade loosely at his side. With his gentle, calm smile, he carried the unmistakable presence of an immortal wanderer.
Beside him walked another man around the same age, though his aura was the polar opposite.
Slightly hunched, the newcomer had a lit cigarette dangling from his lips, smoke curling lazily around his scruffy face. His messy hair hung low, shielding his eyes, yet Lin Huai could still feel a heavy, cold stare boring into her like an icy chill.
Master Cloud Cliff stepped forward smoothly, placing himself between Lin Huai and the trembling Chen Feng. He offered a polite smile. “Little fellow Daoist, I forgot to mention earlier: killing is strictly forbidden outside the combat rings within the trial grounds.”
Lin Huai’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Why?”
Master Cloud Cliff gestured toward two players arguing near the base of the massive trunk. “Take a look over there, and you’ll see.”
Lin Huai shifted her gaze. Two survivors had apparently started brawling right after leaving their match.
One of them was losing ground fast, battered and helpless.
The other lunged forward and plunged a dagger straight through the loser’s chest, ending his life before the crowd.
Yet before anyone nearby could even gasp, the colossal peach tree reacted.
A thick branch laden with blooming peach blossoms materialized silently behind the killer. Just as the victorious player stood up with a grin on his face, the branch snapped forward, impaling him clean through the heart from behind.
Dark blood dripped from the wooden tip onto the pavers. Within seconds, both corpses dissolved into gray mist and vanished into thin air.
The bloodstained branch retracted into the canopy, its pink blossoms glowing with an even deeper, more vivid crimson hue.
Master Cloud Cliff spoke up softly. “Do you see? The Great Wilderness Peach Tree executes anyone who commits murder outside the dueling rings. What I did just now was to save your life.”
He cast a cool, dismissive glance at Chen Feng, who was cowering on the ground behind him. “Keeping this fellow alive was merely an afterthought.”
Lin Huai felt a cold bead of sweat run down her neck. Chen Feng had reached the late stages of the game in their previous life; he had to know the arena rules, yet he had said nothing to stop her.
If she had given in to her fury and crushed him with her greatsword, she would have been pierced through the heart by the tree.
In this world, a lack of information truly was fatal.
Her expression remained composed, giving nothing away as she looked at Master Cloud Cliff. The Daoist was impossibly deep and hard to read, and her instincts told her not to make an enemy of him. “I see. Thank you, Daoist Yun, for saving my life. So, does Daoist Yun wish to duel with me now?”
To leave the trial grounds, every player had to finish at least ten matches. She had only completed one, and she wanted to test the waters against the server’s rank-two powerhouse.
To her surprise, Master Cloud Cliff simply smiled and waved his hand. “I already told you, I won’t fight you.”
“It’s not that I’m afraid of losing,” he added calmly. “There is simply no reason to do so.”
“The arena allows players to defend a platform. A platform defender is removed from the random matchmaking pool and cannot be challenged directly. To avoid bumping into the server’s top ten early on and draining our strength pointlessly, I plan to claim a platform to defend. You all may do as you see fit.”
Master Cloud Cliff turned to leave. The gloomy, hunched man behind him dropped his cigarette butt, crushed it beneath his heel, and spoke in a low, gravelly rasp: “I’m heading up to defend a platform as well, little girl. If you have the nerve, come challenge mine.”
